Gibraltar captured by Britain
During the War of the Spanish Succession, Britain took control of Gibraltar on this day in 1704 after Spain surrendered, and “the Rock” subsequently became a British colony and a symbol of British naval strength. 1704.
The U.S. space probe Phoenix was launched, and a year later it landed on Mars. Among its most-important discoveries was the existence of water ice beneath the planet’s surface. 2007.
In response to the German invasion of Belgium, Great Britain entered World War I, declaring war on Germany. 1914.
Louis Armstrong, a prolifically gifted natural musician and the leading trumpeter in jazz history, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. 1901.
The Portuguese armies of King Sebastian—who was allied with the deposed Moroccan sultan al-Mutawakkil—invaded Morocco but were defeated by the Saʿdī sultan ʿAbd al-Malik in the Battle of the Three Kings. 1578.
Barack Obama (born August 4, 1961, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.) is the 44th president of the United States (2009–17) and the first African American to hold the office. Before winning the presidency, Obama represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate (2005–08). He was the third African American to be elected to that body since the end of Reconstruction (1877). In 2009 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
